Rachel Frierson

Rachel Frierson is the chief operating officer for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. In this role, she sets long-term strategies to maintain the Detroit Riverfront in perpetuity while also leading the visitor experience team, as well as the operations team that manages the day-to-day operations of the Detroit Riverwalk and five associated parks (Gabriel Richard, Mt. Elliott, Robert C. Valade, Cullen Plaza and Ralph Wilson), and three greenways (Dequindre Cut, Mayor Dennis Archer Greenway and Southwest Greenway).

Rachel oversees an annual budget of $5.4 million. This includes the Conservancy’s capital repairs, 300+ events/programs, facility maintenance, and third-party service contracts, which create a workforce of more than 80 people each year. She is credited with building a robust public programming plan focused on conservation, health, and wellness, and arts and culture along the riverfront. Rachel’s work is critical to providing cohesion between the physical space and public programming to support a riverfront that draws more than three million visitors each year.

In 2025, the Conservancy opened the world-class, 22-acre, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park, an $80-million-dollar investment on Detroit’s West Riverfront. Rachel was integral to the transition of the park from construction to operation and led the team that hosted a successful park opening that drew more than 40,000 people. She manages the team that operates this new Detroit gem on the riverfront.

Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree in history and in political theory from Michigan State University, and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University. Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2013, she worked with two different Chicago-based community development organizations, the Chicago Loop Alliance and Division Street Business Development Association, and prior to that, she worked at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, New York.

Rachel is acknowledged nationally as a leader in public space and parks management and is an in-demand speaker who is regularly recruited for speaking engagements. In 2018, Rachel was recognized nationally as a Next City Vanguard for her leadership in developing a reused shipping container into an active bar and pop-up along the Dequindre Cut.

Rachel lives, works, and plays on the riverfront and the Dequindre Cut as a resident of Detroit’s Lafayette Park neighborhood. She also serves as a board member for the Det